Off for my vacation...

Now im off to Aarhus, another city in Denmark, and then Sam and I are going to berlin. So, i wont be back for a while, and well im NOT bringing my computer. Its vacation and family time, so good bye big internet with all your information...for at least a little bit.

On another note, cookbook prep is going well and we home to have one out by March.

Cheerio and have a merry old time.

after work munchies...

so finishing a late night shift can kind of suck. but coming back and getting a few things and making some pretty simple but tasty things. I needed fruit, milky thing and popcorn.


I started by making popcorn adding the following too taste.

• salt
• pepper
• olive oil

The smoothie was made with

• 2/3 cup vanilla turkish yoghurt
• 1/2 cup of milk
• 1/2 cup of vanilla ice cream
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

I then blended it with a blender. and just drank it straight from the container i made it in.

I then had some mangoes (which i got from my local grocery shop) and small cucumbers.

Jewish Jelly Doughnuts...

so for hannukah...ohh yea its hannukah right now...i have started to play around with some recipes. Now the first one i am trying is the Jewish Jelly Doughnut...or Sufganiyot.

i started by adding

• 50 g of yeast
• 1/4 cup of sugar
• 3/4 cup of warm water

into a small bowl and let it sit for 10 min. While its sitting i got a big bowl and added

• 4 cups of flour (and made a little well at the bottom)
• 2 egg yolks
• 2 eggs
• 100 g of melted butter ( or room temp)
• 1 tsp of vanilla
• 2 tsp of salt

Mixing it all with a wooden spoon and then adding the warm yeast mixture. Once in a clump I started to knead it out, and added a lot of flour during the kneading cause it was a little wet. I knead (or however you say/spell it) for 10 min getting a pretty big work out and then oiled it slightly and let it sit and rise for an hour and a half.

Once risen i rolled them out and than i added a little jam and tried to make sure there were no edges, it was a smooth ball stuffed with jelly. Now this is REALLY hard, so i have a couple other suggestions.

First of all just roll them up into small balls (size of a big but not huge thumb) and put them in a heated pan of oil. They will rise up, cook and then you can either

• slit the doughnuts and scoop jam into it
• inject jam with some sort of syringe (you may need to blend it first)

Now the cooking in oil is pretty simple, just turn some vegetable oil to med-high in a pan and add the balls. They should fry up, and make sure to turn them constantly so they dont over cook in one area. Now i dont use too much oil, BUT only use up to a max of 1/2 inch of oil in pan. Seriously, there is no point in overdoing it.

they should take 6 min to fry, maybe less.

Once they are fried, I drained them on some newspaper and sprinkled some confectioners sugar on top.

potato leek soup

So for those who are not in Copenhagen...its snowing in Copenhagen. but not the nice fluffy stuff in the real cold, the stuff that does n0t stick and just gets wet and makes people cold. Of course, i decided to make soup and geeze it was tasty. Now its not the final recipe for potato leek soup, but it works pretty well. Im gonna make another batch in a couple days, and we shall see which one i prefer.

I started by adding a tbs of butter to a pot at med heat so it melt. Turning up heat and adding

• adding 2 leeks (chopped up and rinsed so free from dirt)
• 2 cloves of garlic (finely chopped up)
  

stirring that around and then adding

• 2 large potatoes (chopped up) and stir again for a couple min at med/high heat
  
• 1 L of cold water with a chicken stock boullion
  
• 2 tsp of salt
• 1 tsp of pepper

now let it cook for another 30ish min. once boiling, lower temp and let simmer.

now blend it all together so it becomes smooth.

Enjoy!

sesame green beans

these green beans were actually frozen when i started...but i dont suggest using frozen ones. fresh ones would be so much better, but alas my fridge was empty therefore i needed to route around in the freezer.

I started by frying up slice of bacon that was diced up...(had it in my fridge) so the fat would be released.

I then added

• 1 clove of finely chopped garlic
• the green beans
  
• a couple drops of sesame oil
• 1/2 tsp of maple syrup

i stirred that all around and added a large handful of beans
(if frozen then defrost first in hot water, if fresh then add a tbs of water to mixture here)
finally i added

• 1 tsp white sesame seeds
• 1 tsp black sesame seeds
• 2 tsp of soy sauce
  

i then fried that all up for a couple min and added a little bit of sprouts.

beets

so at this conference i have been thinking about all the meat i usually eat. like i love meat, but if it is as bad to the environment as many people are saying, well maybe i should cut it down. So i have decided to not become vegetarian, but to cut down the amount of meat that i do eat, and if i do buy meat that i get good meat and use it properly.

These beets were baked in my mini oven (to save some electricity) for 45ish min. then i sliced it up and added a sauce that consisted of.

• tbs olive oil
• tsp balsamic vinegar
• tsp hot sauce
• pinch salt/pepper
• touch of Worcestershire sauce
• tsp mustard

it was exactly what i needed after day of working at huks fluks.

enjoy

sesame fried tofu

so i have been going to the climate conference in Copenhagen and have started to think about the environment a bit. Meat...well takes up a large amount of energy to produce, so basically i need to eat less of it. so i decided to make some sesame fried tofu.

Start off by getting two bowls

fill one with a beaten egg
fill the other with

• touch of salt
• bunch of flour
• bunch of sesame seeds (black and white)
  

start by

1. dicing (1/2 inch) and draining tofu
2. dip tofu into beaten egg
3. from egg cover in flour/sesame seed mixture (make sure all covered and dry)
   
4. putting on another plate before frying

add a tbs of veggie oil to a pan and turn to high.

once hot place tofu into pan and continue to cook/flip till slightly brown on all sides.

Once all the tofu was fried i put some

• chinese chives
• diced ginger

some bok choi..im pretty sure and then added a touch of water too cook it all up.

Now enjoy with some rice.

rice pudding

now this is one of the simplest dishes to make if you have some spare rice.

there are like 3 steps.

1. put it into a saucepan at med heat
2. add tsp cinnamon, tsp sugar, a little milk
3. stir around and serve a little heated up

now enjoy

Chili...

So i made cornbread...and chili. the cornbread recipe is already up. check this.

The chili took a while, and was actually better the next day...so make it before you want it cause well its tasty the longer it lasts.

i started by getting a big pot, turning to med-high heat and adding

• frying a handful of chopped bacon
• adding 2 small onions chopped finely
• stirring till onions become translucent and bacon is kinda cooked
• adding in 400 g of ground beef...(thats what i had in fridge from *unknown*)
• stirring again so beef gets broken up and starts to cook
• adding 2 cloves of finely chopped garlic

now you can start to add spices. i actually added

• 2 tsp of jerk powder
• 2 tsp of salt
• 2 tsp of pepper
• some 5 spice..just for the hell of it

i stirred that all up i added

• 2 chopped tomatoes
• 1 can of chopped tomatoes
• 1 tbs of tomato paste
• 2 cans of beans (1 cannelloni. 1 red kidney)...with water it was in
  
• 1 yellow pepper sliced up
• 2 sprigs of celery chopped up small
• some water

now turn it up till it boils and then down to simmer and let it simmer for a LONG time. a couple hours should be fine.

Now enjoy with some cornbread.

cornbread...

so i made chili...which i will post later and of course i needed to make cornbread. It was the perfect side to some tasty chili or really anything.

it was pretty simple...except trying to find cornmeal in denmark is REALLY hard.

start by mixing

• 1 cup of flour
• 1 cup of cornmeal
• 2.5 tsp of baking powder
• 1 tsp of salt

then stir in.

• 1 cup of milk
• 1/2 cup of sugar/sugar syrup/maple syrup
• 1 egg
• 1/3 cup of butter/veggie oil

now pour this mixture into a greased baking pan. around square 9 inch could work great.

put in oven at 400 F for 20-25 min.

Enjoy!

curried eggs and bacon

so i have been told that breakfast is the most vital meal of the day. Sadly, i dont treat it as such...but every once in a while a good breakfast, is well...great.

This breakfast was simple...bacon eggs and some mushrooms

• i started by frying bacon in a pan at med heat, putting bacon on when pan is cold.
• the fatty juices come out and made two pans worth of bacon.
• once bacon was out and draining i added a handful of chopped onion to pan
• i stirred that around and added some chopped mushrooms
• kept stirring and added: curry powder, salt and pepper
• finally i beat 2 eggs in a bowl and added that to the mix a couple min later
• i mixed it all around like scrambled eggs
  
• i enjoyed with a large cup of coffee and some flat bread

cheerio.

carrot ginger soup for the sick

Now i made this soup the other day and it was pretty great...so as i am still not feeling 100% i decided to remake it for myself.

start by

• add some olive oil at med heat into a pot
• add some diced onions and stir around for a couple min
  
• add 2 tbs of grated ginger
• add 5-6 thickly diced carrots and stir for another couple min
  
• add a sprig (is that what its called) of celery...1 stock chopped up
  
• add a small sweet potato diced up
  
• fill pot with water
• add some chicken bouillon
• add tsp or two of hot sauce
• turn on high to boil then turn down to simmer

now simmer till carrots are soft. Once they are soft use a blender to make smooth.

It was exactly what i needed with some wasa biscuits on the side. simply delicious.

spaghetti bolognese

I made this the other day. but tried to make it again...of course and well it worked out great.

i started by boiling a big pot of water and cooking the spaghettie. the sauce was made by

• putting a little olive oil in a medium sized saucepan at med heat
• adding an onion to pan, diced up
• adding 2 cloves of garlic, crushed and diced
• stirring it around for 4-5 min, or till onions are see through

I then added

• 1 large handful of chopped carrots
• 2 handfuls of ground lamb
  
• 1 can of tomatoes
• 1 tbs of tomato paste
  
• a touch (2 tsp) of lius syrup (maple syrup would work)
• 1 pepper diced up
• 1 tsp of hot sauce
• 1/2 c of red wine
• a large pinch of salt
• a decent pinch of pepper
• some water to make sure its not too thick.
  

I turned it to high till it started to boil, then back to simmering at med heat while it bubbles and thickens. Constantly stirring for 15-20ish min most likely, or till its thick enough for you to think its a sauce.

Now add some to the drained pasta and stir it all around. and eat with some grated parm.

I made a lot of the sauce so i put some in the freezer in bags to keep for later. Enjoy!

Nachos...

The other day we were feeling kind of home sick so we went out for nachos and pitchers of beer. To not fault of our guide the place we ended up was just not what I was looking for. There were no pitchers and well the nachos were soggy on the bottom. After talking to a new friend i realized that nachos are not things to buy out in copenhagen but are made in ones home...So i made some nachos to compliment a watching of inglorious basterds.

• Put oven to 350.
• Take out a baking sheet and make a base of nacho chips.
• sprinkle grated cheese on top (cheddar and mozzarella)
• put in oven for 10-15 min

Do not mix cheese to through the nachos, because it will end up sticking to the bottom and then you loose a lot of the tasty cheese.

Now for dip this one i learnt from an old floor mates mum i think. Basically instead of seperating your salsa and sour cream...well layer it.

• so i put a layer of salsa at the bottom of a bowl
• i added a little more hot sauce and some corn to give a little 'pshazss'...
• layer some sour cream on top
• add some freshly diced peppers on top

Now Enjoy with friends or by yourself. I know it was perfect with some beer and a tarintino flick about crazy jews killing nazis.

Caesar Salad...the basics

I finally found a romaine lettuce that is worth cutting up into a caesar salad. So what do i do? i bought it and made a caesar dressing.

The dressing was made with

• 1/2 juice of lemon
• 1 tsp of dijon mustard
• 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
• 1 tbs of olive oil
• pinch of salt and pepper
• 1-2 egg yolks...first batch i used 1...the second 2

add grated parm cheese till thick...Now serve it on your cut romaine and eat it up.

PS i know everyone worries about raw eggs, well there is a simple way to get around that. buy GOOD eggs. common you have heard the horrors for chickens, why not buy some good ones.

zucchini pasta 2.0

For this pasta just start by cooking some pasta. Adding olive oil and salt once drained and then add some type of meat or veggies.

The cooking of the zucchini was with

• olive oil
• a clove of garlic
• some pomegranate juice
• salt/pepper to season

just fry that all up for 5-10 min and mix into the pasta.

Serve with some grated parm and Enjoy!